Conveyor system

ABSTRACT

A conveyor system for conveying documents or the like in a building or the like provided with a master vertical route having a vertically arranged endless master belt, and branched routes as many as floors, comprising many conventional horizontal endless belts and many vertically arranged endless secondary belts similar to the master belt. A conveying box is adapted to be carried from a station in any floor by the vertically arranged endless belt by the action of the magnetism and conventionally horizontally and removed automatically from the system at an appointed removing station in an appointed floor by virtue of the action of the magnetism in a different manner from the above action. A destination selecting means is provided in the conveying box and adapted to cooperate with selecting means provided in the vertical routes. A reversing means is provided under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless belt.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Masami Miya;

Koichi Fukuda, both of Tokyo, Japan [54] CONVEYOR SYSTEM 12 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 198/38, 198/41 [5 1] Int. Cl .;.B65g 17/46, 865g 43/08 [50] Field of Search 198/38, 41; 214/11 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,508,086 5/1950 Alvarez 198/38 Primary ExaminerEdward A. Sroka Attorney-Steinberg & Blake,

ABSTRACT: A conveyor system for conveying documents or the like in a building or the like provided with a master vertical route having a vertically arranged endless master belt, and branched routes as many as floors, comprising many conventional horizontal endless belts and many vertically arranged endless secondary belts similar to the master belt. A conveying box is adapted to be carried from a station in any floor by the vertically arranged endless belt by the action of the magnetism and conventionally horizontally and removed automatically from the system at an appointed removing station in an appointed floor by virtue of the action of the magnetism in a different manner from the above action. A destination selecting means is provided in the conveying box and adapted to cooperate with selecting means provided in the vertical routes. A reversing means is provided under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless belt.

PATENTED M1831 \sm SHEET 2 OF 4 INVENTOR. A A Hm mm and KOICH/ BY K mull? V m 6 Lu PATENTED M831 1911 sum 3 or 4 INVENTOR. Mam/41 M/VA QM BY Kolam FUKUDA PATENTEU M1831 I971 SHEET 0F 4 HQNN INVENTOR.

BY Kwc/H f vl ale,

CONVEYOR SYSTEM This invention relates to a conveyor system for conveying documents or the like in a multistoried building orthe like, and a method of conveying documents or the like using the system.

The inventors of the invention of this application filed an application for U.S. Pat. Ser. No. 686,880, for now U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,912, an invention relating to a conveyor system for conveying documents or the like in a multistoried building. in accordance with the prior art, a document may be conveyed to any appointed floor in a multistoried building, but it is impossible to select a destination within a floor. In other words, the system is operable only along a vertical line in the building. In addition, the starting station is restricted to the lowermost floor.

The object of this invention is to provide a conveyor system and a method of operating the same, which is three-dimensionally expanded throughout a building and more convenient for handling.

Briefly stated in accordance with one aspect of this invention, there is a conveyor system comprising a master vertical route, a plurality of branched routes, and a plurality of conveying boxes. The master vertical route comprises a flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework of a ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless master belt of a nonmagnetic substance adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially vertically so as to circulate on and along the master framework, a reversing means having permanent magnets on the lateral faces of a prismatic roller provided under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless master belt, and a plurality of primary selecting means adapted to be cooperated with the conveying box. Each of the branched routes comprises a plurality of adjoining pairs of horizontally arranged endless belts adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially horizontally, and a plurality of secondary vertical routes arranged between the adjoining pairs of horizontally arranged endless belts, respectively. Each of the secondary vertical routes comprises a flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary framework of a ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless secondary belt of a nonmagnetic substance adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially vertically so as to circulate on and along the secondary frame work, a reversing means similar to the first-named reversing means and provided under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless secondary belt, and a secondary selecting means adapted to be cooperated with the conveying box.

ln operating the above system, a conveying box may be con- I veyed from a starting station to a removing station. These stations may be positioned on the upward sides of not only the vertically arranged endless master belt but also the vertically arranged endless secondary belt. Thus a plurality of stations may be provided within a floor. By virtue of the reversingmeans provided under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless belt, a conveying box carried by the downward side of the vertically arranged endless belt down to the lowermost reversing end thereof is transferred to the upward side of the belt automatically so as to be carried upward thereby. The conveying box is provided with a vertically carrying permanent magnet means and an adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means. The vertically carrying permanent magnet means cooperates with the vertically arranged framework so as to hold the conveying box on the vertically arranged endless belt while the former is moved together with the latter. The adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means cooperates with the primary selecting means to select at removing station or a branched route, and with the secondary selecting means to select a removing station within a branched route. The horizontally arranged endless belt is formed and operatedconventionally, but for transferring a conveying box from the master vertical route to a branched route at a junction of the two routes, it is necessary for the adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means to cooperate with the primary selecting means as above.

The reversing means provided under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless belt, which may be provided above the uppermost reversing end of the vertically arranged endless belt, although such an arrangement as above is rarely useful, comprises a prismatic roller, of which the axle is arranged in parallel with the width of the endless belt and the lateral faces are driven to be revolved in the same direction with the endless belt so as to transfer the conveying box from the position on the vertically arranged endless belt to a position on the lateral face of the prismatic roller. The conveying box is held in place on the lateral face of the prismatic roller by virtue of the magnetic cooperation of attracting plates fixed on the outer surface of the bottom of the conveying box with permanent magnets of the prismatic roller, while the latter is rotated so as to reverse the direction of advance of the conveying box. When the prismatic roller has taken a half turn, the bow of the conveying box is positioned on the upward side of the endless belt so as to be carried upward thereby.

The adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means provided in the bow of the conveying box comprises a series of destination selecting holes formed through the conveying box normally to the bottom thereof and arranged transversally. A pair of permanent magnets are adapted to be inserted into and held by any two of the holes. The number of the holes is limited on the practical condition and exemplified by eight as a preferred embodiment described hereinafter. The number of the permanent magnets to be inserted into the holes, respectively, is exemplified by two as above. These permanent magnets cooperate with the primary selecting means provided in the master framework for selecting a removing station or a branched route in a floor and with'the secondary selecting means provided in the secondary framework for selecting a removing station within the primary selected floor. The primary selecting means and the secondary selecting means comprise permanent magnets embedded in the frameworks, respectively. The permanent magnets of the adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means are polarized in such a manner as to repulse the permanent magnets of the primary selecting means and the secondary selecting means so that the conveying box carried by the vertically arranged endless belt is removed therefrom when the adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means comes upon the primary selecting means and the secondary selecting means on a dimensional condition, respectively. Letting nCr denote the number of combination of the number of the holes in the conveying box taken the number of permanent magnets inserted at a time without repetition,

in which n represents the number of the holes in the conveying box and r represents the number of permanent magnets inserted into the holes at a time. If n is 8 and r is 2 as exemplified above, the value of nCr is 28. This value is the number of destinations in the whole system, which may be distributed throughout the building. When two permanent magnets of the conveying box are both repulsed by a primary selecting means, the conveying box is transferred onto a horizontally arranged endless belt of a branched route so as to be carried to a secondary vertical route, where, if two permanent magnets of the conveying box are repulsed by the secondary selecting means of the secondary vertical route, the conveying box is removedfrom the secondary route. If the conveying box is not repulsed by the secondary selecting means, it is further transferred onto another horizontally arranged endless belt of the branched route and carried to another secondary vertical route thereof. If the conveying box is not repulsed by the primary selecting means, it is further elevated by the vertically arranged endless master belt to the next primary selecting means in the next floor, where the conveying box is selected similarly for directing the same either to another branched route or to further upper floor.

In other to combine some removing stations at the inlet of a branched route having these removing stations, the junction of the master vertical route with the branched route has, for example, four repulsing means in a primary selecting means. Letting nC q denote the number of combination of the number of the holes in the conveying box taken of the number of the repulsing means without repetition,

nCq=n!/(nq)l q in which q represents the number of the repulsing means. If n is 8 and q is 4 as exemplified above, the value of nCq is 420.

The vertically carrying permanent magnet means of the conveying box is provided near the stern on the bottom of the box. The adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means is provided near the bow of the conveying box. By virtue of these arrangements, the conveying box which has been carried upward on and by the upward side of a vertically arranged endless belt, is repulsed at the bow of the conveying box to be transferred onto a horizontally arranged endless belt, so that the conveying box is placed on the horizontally arranged endless belt, the upside-down situated conveying box is expelled out of the outlet and guided by a convex chute as it is so as to be placed on the downward side of a vertically arranged endless belt, facing the bottom of the conveying box to the belt. Thus the conveying box travels from a starting station to a removing station. If the two stations are in the master vertical route and the starting station is positioned higher than the removing station, the conveying box first travels upward, then circulates through the highest branched route, thirdly travels downward, and then upward to the removing station. If the starting station is lower than the removing station, the conveying box is simply conveyed upward. If the starting station of a branched route is nearer than the removing station to the junction of the branched route along the route in the conveying box travelling direction, the conveying box travels merely within the branched route. If the removing station of a branched route is nearer than the stating station to the junction of the branched route along the route in the conveying box travelling direction, or located in another branched route or in the master vertical route, the conveying box travels down once to the lowermost end of the master vertical route and further travels upward to the removing station without passing further another branched route where the two stations do not relate to, although sometimes it is necessary to pass through the highest branched route.

In accordance with this invention, a plurality of conveying boxes may travel in the system simultaneously. When a conveying box is vertically downward approaching a junction while another conveying box is horizontally approaching the same junction, the former approach is detected by a detector whereby an interrupter is actuated so as to interrupt the latter approach for a suitable period just before the latter arrives at the junction.

By virtue of the system in accordance with this invention, it is possible to convey such light matters as mail, documents and the like not only vertically but also horizontally in a multistoried building and the like. A plurality of conveying boxes may travel at one time as above-mentioned from a plurality of starting stations to a plurality of removing stations. This conveying system may be made and installed rather inexpensively.

The invention will be better understood and other objects and additional advantages of the invention will become apparent upon perusal of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a building in which a conveyor system embodying this invention is installed;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the second floor of the building where the system of FIG. 1 is partly installed;

FIG. 3 is partly removed side elevational view of the system;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partly removed side elevational view of the master vertical route of the system;

FIG. 5 is a still enlarged side elevational view of the reversing means of the master vertical route of the system;

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view of the reversing means shown in fig. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan-view taken along the lines 77 of FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 8 is a still enlarged perspective view of the conveying box removed from the system;

FIG. 9 is a further enlarged front elevational view of the conveying box placed on the upward side of the endless belt;

FIG. 10 is a left side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 11 is a left side elevational view of a station; and

FIG. 12 is a transversally cross-sectional view of the bow of the conveying box at the junction of the master vertical route to the first branched route.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of this invention will now be described; however, this description will be understood to be illustrative of the invention and not as limiting it to the particular arrangements shown and described. There is a three-storied building having the first floor 1F, second floor 2F and third floor 3F. A shaft is provided through the second floor 2F and the third floor 3F for installing a master vertical route MR having a first branched route 101 in the first floor 1F, a second branched route 201 in the second floor 2F, and a third branched route 301 in the third floor 3F for letting a conveying box travel in accordance with this invention. These branched routes comprise some horizontally arranged endless belts and some secondary vertical routes: The first branched route 101 comprises six horizontally arranged endless belts 102, 103, I04, 105, 106 and 107 and two secondary vertical routes 111 and 112. The second branched route 201 comprises seven horizontally arranged. endless belts, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206,,

207 and 208 and three secondary vertical routes 211, 212 and 213. The third branched route 301 comprises six horizontally arranged endless belts 302, 303, 304, 305, 306 and 307 and two secondary vertical routes 311 and 312. There are three stations 21, 22 and 23 in the master vertical route MR, one station in one floor, and seven stations 113, 114, 214, 215, 216, 313 and 314 in the secondary vertical routes, one station in one secondary vertical route, so that there are three stations 21,113 and 114 in the first floor 1F, four stations 22,214,215 and 216 in the second floor 2F, and three stations 23, 313 and 314 in the third floor 3F as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A conveying box as shown in FIG. 8 may travel from any of these stations to any othersthrough necessary parts of the conveyor system and even circulated throughout the system.

The master vertical route MR comprises a fiat and elongated vertically arranged master framework 24 of steel extended in the shaft vertically through the first, second and third stories, and therefore through the second floor 2F and the third floor 3F as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The framework 24 comprises two channels longitudinally and oppositely arranged and united by two side members. The web plate 52 of the channel can be attracted by a permanent magnet 42 in a conveying box 41 which will be referred to in detail hereinafter. On and along the master framework 24 is longitudinally circulatingly mounted a vertically arranged endless master belt 25 of a nonmagnetic substance. The flange 26 of the channels guides the endless master belt 25 on and along the web plates 51 of the channels as shown in FIG. 7. There is an electric motor 27 between the two web plates 51 near to the lowermost end thereof for driving the endless master belt 25. A driving roller 28 is driven by the motor 27 intermediate a motor sprocket wheel 29, a chain 30 and a driving roller sprocket wheel 31 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 There are a pair of guiding rollers 32 just under the lowermost ends of the web plates 51. The endless master belt 25 is extended over the pair of guiding rollers 32 and the driving roller 28 arranged intermediate and above the pair, so that the endless master belt 25 is driven in a single direction by the motor 27 and the advancing direction is reversed by the guiding rollers 32. The advancing direction of the endless master belt 25 is reversed also at the top end of the master vertical route MR by a pair of guiding rollers 33 and a tension roller 34 arranged intermediate and under the pair as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is possible to divide the endless master belt into some units arranged vertically one upon another. In such a case it is necessary that the units of the endless master belt 25 are operated at the same speed and in the same single direction one after another and that the top end of a unit is arranged close to the bottom end of the following unit.

The master vertical route MR is provided with a reversing means just under the lowermost reversing end of the vertically arranged master belt 25. The reversing means comprises a hexagonally prismatic roller having an axle 36 arranged in parallel with and adapted to be driven by the guiding roller 32 intermediate a guiding roller sprocket wheel 37, a chain 38 and a prismatic roller sprocket wheel 39 so as to rotate the hexagonally prismatic roller 35 in the same direction with the guiding roller 32. The lateral faces of the prismatic roller 35 are made of a nonmagnetic substance and a pair of permanent magnets 40 are fixed to each of the lateral faces, respectively, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The action of the reversing means will be described in connection with the conveying box hereinafter.

The conveying box 41 which may be conveyed from a starting station to a removing station in the conveyor system in accordance with this invention, is a flat rectangular paral lelepiped box as shown in FIG. 8. The body of the box 41 and lid thereof are made of a nonmagnetic substance. A permanent magnet 42 is fixed onto the outer surface of the bottom of the stern of the conveying box 41. A transversal series of destination selecting holes 43 are formed in the bow of the conveying box 41 normally to the bottom thereof. A pair of attracting plates 44 of steel are fixed onto the intermediate part between the bow and the stern of the outer surface of the bottom. When the outer surface of the bottom of the conveying box 41 is placed on the web plateSl of the channel of the master framework 24 intermediate the endless master belt 25, the web plate 51 is attracted by the permanent magnet 42 by the action of magnetism of the latter so that the conveying box 41 is moved together with the endless master belt 25. Thus it is quite easy to start the conveying box 41 in this system.

When the conveying box 41 carried by the downward side of the endless master belt 25 has arrived at the lowermost end thereof, the bow of the conveying box 41 is positioned straight downward under the preceding position, while the endless master belt 25 is bent inward on and along the cylindrical surface of the guiding roller 32, so that the bow is removed from the endless master belt 25. The attracting plates 44 of the conveying box 41 protruding downward as above are attracted by the permanent magnets 40 just brought to the outer position from a position hidden under the guiding roller 32 in accordancewith the rotation of the hexagonally prismatic roller 35, so that the conveying box 41 is brought into a position to be carried by the hexagonally prismatic roller 35, while the stern of the conveying box 41 has passed the lowermost extremity of the web plate 51 of the channel of the master framework 24 in accordance with the downward advance of the endless master belt 25 so that the permanent magnet 42 provided on the stern attracts nothing but is revolved along a semicircular locus concentric to the hexagonally prismatic roller 35.

When the hexagonally prismatic roller 35 has taken a half turn while carrying the conveying box 41, the bow of the conveying box 41, which has been turned along a semicircular locus similar to the above locus, has arrived at a position on the upward side of the endless master belt 25 so that two permanent magnets 45 and 46 studded in the destination selecting holes 43 attract the web plate 51 of the channel opposite to the last-named channel of the master framework 24 intermediate the upward side of the endless master belt 25, and therefore, the bow is carried straight upward by the endless master belt 25, while the permanent magnets 40 of the hexagonally prismatic roller 35 are separated from the attracting plates 44 of the conveying box 41 and hidden under the guiding roller 32 in accordance with the rotation of the hexagonally prismatic roller 35. Shortly the conveying box 41 is brought into a position completely on the web plate 51 intermediate the upward side of the endless master belt 25 in accordance with the upward advance thereof so that the web plate 51 is attracted by the permanent magnet 42 of the conveying box 41. In this paragraph the destination selecting holes 43 have been referred to, which will be described. in the following paragraph in detail.

The destination selecting holes 43 and permanent magnets 45 and 46 serve mainly for removing the conveying box 41 from a vertically arranged endless master belt 25 at any of the removing stations 21, 22 and 23 and at either of the junctions and 200. The vertically arranged master framework 24 is provided with two repulsing magnets 47 and 48, for example, at the removing station 21, as shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. The repulsing magnets 47 and 48 are embedded in the web plate normally thereto. The two positions of these repulsing magnets 47 and 48 in the web plate are selected from a transversal series of eight positions corresponding to the transversal series of eight positions of the destination selecting holes 43 formed in the bottom of the stern of the conveying box 41. If the conveying box 41 is to be removed from the conveyor system at the removing station 21, when the conveying box 41 has been carried upward to the station 21 by the endless master belt 24, the permanent magnets 45 and 46 are to be both repulsed by the repulsing magnets 47 and 48. In other words, it is necessary that the permanent magnets 45 and 46 are polarized oppositelyto the repulsing magnets 47 and 48, respectively, and that the permanent magnets 45 and 46 are arranged normally in alignment with the repulsing magnets 47 and 48, respectively. The conveying box 41 in this embodiment is provided with eight destination selecting holes 43 as shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 12 and two permanent magnets 45 and 46 are studded therein, and therefore, there are 28 choices by calculating as a combination. If the destination selecting holes 43 denoted l and 3 are provided with the permanent magnets 45 and 46 studded therein, the conveying box 41 is removed from the conveyor system at a station where two repulsing magnets 47 and 48 are correspondingly positioned in the l and 3" positions as shown in FIG. 9. In case where the two permanent magnets 45 and 46 are not positioned in the l and 3 of the destination selecting holes 43, the permanent magnets 45 and 46 are not repulsed by the repulsing magnets 47 and 48 so that the conveying box 41 passes the station 21 as it is but not removed from the endless master belt 25. If it is necessary that the conveying box 41 not to be removed from the conveyor system when only one pair of the two pairs of magnets to be repulsed by each other are met with each other, in view of the number of the combination, it is possible to pass the conveying box 41 through the station 21 by selecting strength of the four magnets.

The master vertical route MR is provided with three removing stations 21, 22 and 23 and three branched routes 101, 201 and 301, and therefore, it is necessary that there are six different arrangements of the two repulsing magnets one after another. If these arrangements are l and 2", l and 3f, l and,4", b 1" and 5, and 1" and 6", and 1".and 7 in order of positions from the bottom to the top, a conveying box having the two permanent magnets arranged, for example, at the positions l and 3 is removed from the conveyor system at the station 22. When the conveying box has the two permanent magnets arranged at the positions l and 7", these permanent m agnets are both repulsed by the repulsing magnets at the inlet of the branched route 201 where the conveying box is removed from the endless master belt 25 but not removed from the conveyor system, because there is a branched route 201.

There are three branched routes 101, 201 and 301 in this embodiment. These branched routes have some secondary vertical routes, respectively. Each of these secondary vertical routes comprises a flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary framework quite similar to the vertically arranged master framework 24 except for the vertical extension. While the master framework 24 is extended vertically from the first story lF to the third story 3F, the secondary framework is extended only within a single story. Each of the secondary vertical routes is provided. with the endless secondary belt, the reversing means, the removing station, and the inlet of the horizontally arranged endless belt, quite similarly to the master vertical route. It is to be noted that there are a single removing station and a single inlet of the horizontally arranged endless belt in a single secondary vertical route, while the master vertical route has three removing stations and three inlets of the horizontally arranged endless belts. Each of these secondary vertical route is arranged between two horizontally arranged endless belts. It is also to be noted that, while it is necessary that the destination of the conveying box is to be selected at the inlet into a branched route from the master vertical route so as to separate the destination into two species,

one being directed into the branched route and the otherv being directed into the other floors, it is not necessary to select the destination at an inlet of the horizontally arranged endless belt, arranged in the secondary vertical route.

Because of the fact that some destination belonging to a branched route must be separated from other destinations at a junction of the master vertical route MR, the number of the repulsing magnets embedded in the web plate 51 at the junction is increased to four as shown in FIG. 12, while the permanent magnets 45 and 46 of the conveying box 41 is still two. In case, as described hereinafter, there are only two stations 113 and 114 in the first branched route 101, one digit can represent the group of the stations. However, if there are more stations that the number of the destination selecting holes 43 of the conveying box 41 or eight in a branched route, no digit can not represent the group. In addition, no repetition is allowed, so that the limit is seven. Similarly, for other junctions, the number must be reduced by one, so that the balance is six. ln view of this and for usefor the stations directly positioned in the master vertical route MR, there are repulsing magnets 47, 48, 49 and 50 in this embodiment.

When the conveying box 41 has the two permanent magnets 45 and 46 arranged at the positions l and 3," these permanent magnets 45 and 46 are both repulsed by the repulsing magnets arranged correspondingly thereto at the junction 100 to the branched route 101 so as to be removed from the master vertical route MR. When the two magnets 45 and 46 are arranged at the positions 2" and 3 or the positions 3" and 4," these permanent magnets 45 and 46 are also both repulsed at the junction. Under these circumstances, such conveying boxes as having the two permanent magnets 45 and 46 at the positions l and 3, l and 4, 2 and 3, 2

branched route 101, while such conveying boxes as having the two magnets 45 and 46 at positions other than the above five pairs are not transferred to the first branched route 101 but conveyed straight upward to the removing station 22 along the master vertical route MR. it is to be noted in this case that the positions 1 and 2" have been allotted to the station 21 in the master vertical route MR.

When the conveying box 41 falls fiat on its top by being repulsed, the inlet of the first horizontally arranged endless belt 102 is arranged for receiving the fallen conveying box 41 on the upper side thereof, and therefore, the conveying box 41 carried by the horizontally arranged endless belt 102 to the top end of the downward side of the vertically arranged endless belt 115 and easily caught thereby. The reversing means provided at the lowermost end of the vertically arranged secondary belt 1 reverses the conveying box 41 so as to let it arrive at the destination or station 1 13 where a pair of repulsing magnets 47 and 48 arranged at the positions l and 3" are embedded in the web plate so as to repulse only such a conveying box 41 having the two permanent magnets 45 and 46 also at the same positions l and 3 for removing the specified conveying box 41 from the conveyor system at the specified station 113. Such a conveying box having the permanent magnets at the positions l and 4," 2" and "3," 2 and 4," or 3 and 4 is passed through the station 113 as and 4," and 3" and 4 are transferred to the first it is and conveyed to the inlet of the following horizontally arranged endless belt 103 whence the box is transferred to the belt-103 similarly to the transference to the endless belt 102. It is not necessary to provide a destination selecting means at the top of the upward side of the vertically arranged endless secondary belt 1 15, that is, the inlet of the second horizontally arranged endless belt 103 of the first branched route 101, because all conveying boxes which arrive here are to be transferred onto the second horizontally arranged endless belt 103 without exception. It is conventional that a conveying box carried by and on a horizontally arranged endless belt 103 is transferred onto another horizontally arranged endless belt 104, which is arranged another horizontally directionally, as shown in FIG. 2.

The arrangements of the repulsing magnets required throughout the conveying system in this embodiment are as follows:

1" and 2 at the station 21, first floor;

2, 2, 3 and 4" at the junction 100, first floor;

l" and 5" at the station 22, second floor;

l 6, 7" and 8" at the junction 200, second floor;

2 and 5 at the station 23, third floor;

1".and 3" at the station 113, branched route, first floor;

l and 4 at the station 114, branched route, first floor;

1 and 6" at the station 214, branched route, second floor;

l and 7 at the station 215, branched route, second floor;

1 and 8 at the station 216, branched route, second floor;

2 and 6 at the station 313, branched route, third floor;

2" and 7" at the station 314, branched route, third floor; while the arrangements 2 and 3," 2" and 4, and 3" and 4" are not allotted but left for further additional use in the first floor, the arrangements 6" and 6" and and 7 and 8" are not allotted but left for further additional use in the second floor, and twelve arrangements of combination of two positions selected from the eight positions of the destination selecting means in the conveying box are not allotted to any destination or any junction but left for use in further additional destinations.

Now some conveyances of the conveying box will be exemplified.

EXAMPLE I A conveying box 41 is to be conveyed from the station 21 to the station 23. To this end two permanent magnets 45 and 46 are studded in the positions 2 and 5 of the destination selecting holes 43 of the conveying box 41, respectively, because these two positions are fixedly allotted to the station 23, and therefore, any conveying box to be conveyed to and removed from the system at the station 23 is provided with the two permanent magnets 45 and 46 at the positions. Such conveying box 41 is placed on the upward side of the vertically arranged endless master belt 25 at the station 21 so as to be carried thereby along the master vertical route MR. The conveying box 41 goes straight through the junction 100, because the repulsing magnets 47, 48, and 49 and 50 are arranged in the web plate at the positions I, 2, 3" and 4," so that, although the repulsing magnet 48 acts on the magnet 45 studded at the position 2 of the conveying box 41, the other permanent magnet 46 arranged at the position 5 of the conveying box 41 is not repulsed but acts on the web plate while passing the junction. The conveying box 41 passes the station 22 where two repulsing magnets are provided at the positions l and 5," because the permanent magnets 45 do not meet the repulsing magnet at the position 1. Similarly to the junction 100, the junction 200 where the conveying box 41 passes, is provided with four embedded repulsing magnets at positions l,"6," 7" and 8, so that the permanent magnets positioned at 2" and 5" do not meet the repulsing magnets, respectively. At last, the conveying box 41 arrives at the station 23 where two repulsing magnets are provided at the positions 2 and so that the conveying box 41 is repulsed by the repulsing magnets, removed from the vertically arranged endless master belt 25 and stopped at the station 23.

EXAMPLE 2 A conveying box is to be conveyed from the station 21 to the station 313. To this end two permanent magnets 45 and 46 are studded in the positions 2 and 6 of the destination selecting holes 43 of the conveying box 41, respectively. Similarly to the preceding example, the conveying box 41 arrives at the station 23 but not stopped here, because the permanent magnets 45 and 46 are positioned at 2 and 6" as above, while the repulsing magnets at this station are positioned at 2 and 5. At the top end of the master vertical route MR, that is, the junction 300, any conveying box conveyed upward is transferred onto the horizontally arranged endless belt 32, because of the uppermost extremity of the web plate. The conveying box 41 placed on the upper side of the horizontally arranged endless belt 302 in the upside-down situation is transferred onto the downward side of the vertically arranged endless secondary belt of the secondary route 311 and reversed at the lowermost end thereof so as to be raised to the station 313 where the permanent magnets 45 and 46 positioned at 2 and 6" are for the first time both repulsed by two repulsing magnets similarly positioned at 2 and 6" so that the conveying box 41 is stopped at the station 313.

EXAMPLE 3 A conveying box provided with two permanent magnets at the positions l and 4 is placed on the upward side of the vertically arranged endless secondary belt of the secondary vertical route 312 at the station 314 for conveying the conveying box to the station 114. The conveying box passes the horizontally arranged endless belt 307, the junction 300, the master vertical route MR down to the reversing means, and again the master vertical route up to the junction 100, the horizontally arranged endless belt 102, the vertically arranged endless belt 102, the vertically arranged endless secondary belt down to the reversing means, again the same vertically arranged endless secondary belt up to the inlet of the horizontally arranged endless belt 103, another horizontally arranged endless belts 104 and 105, the vertically arranged endless secondary belt down to the reversing means, and again the same vertically arranged endless secondary belt up to the station 1 14.

EXAMPLE 4 The fourth floor 4F and the second floor 2F are added so that two stations and two additional stations are required in the fourth floor 4F and the second floor 2F, respectively. In accordance with such a requirement, it is necessary to allot positions of the repulsing magnets in the web plate of the master vertical route MR at the junction 300 where the third branched route 301 is separated from the master vertical route MR. These positions are, for example, 2, 6", 7, and 8" in view of the fact that the positions 2" and 6" and the positions 2" and 7 have been already allotted to the stations 313 and 314, respectively. The new two stations in the fourth floor 4F may be provided with the positions 3 and 5 and the positions "3 and 6, respectively. The newly additional two stations in the second floor 2F may be provided with the positions 6 and 7" and the positions 6" and 8," respectively, in view of the fact that these two sets of positions belong to those repulsed at the junction 200 but not allotted to the stations 214, 215 and 216.

While a particular embodiment of this invention has been illustrated and described, for example, the following modification is very useful. Referring to FIG. 5, since the permanent magnet 42 of the conveying box 41 is positioned in the stern thereof, it is possible to extend the bow straight downward from the lowermost end of the web plate 51 for provide cooperation between the attracting plates 44 of the conveying box-41 with the permanent magnets'40 of the hexagonally prismatic roller 35. However, when the roller 35 has taken a half turn when carrying the conveying box 41, the bow of the conveying box 41 is at first placed on the upward side of the vertically arranged endless belt 25. Although the attracting plates 44 are still being attracted by the permanent magnets 40 of the roller 35, due to the continuous turn of the latter, it is probable that the conveying box 41 is held in place by neither the permanent magnets 40 of the roller 35 nor the permanent magnet 42 of the conveying box 41 during a short period, so that the upward travel of the conveying box 41 can not start or the same is unnecessarily removed from the system. In accordance with this modification, there is provided a supplemental attracting plate 60 of steel fixed onto the outer surface of the bottom of the conveying box 41, as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. This plate 60 is positioned along the longitudinal center and between the destination selecting holes 43 and the center of the bottom cooperates with a supplemental permanent magnet 61 embedded in the web plate 51 and positioned along the lowermost part of the longitudinal centerline of the web plate 51 on which the upward side of the belt 25 advances. When the bow of the conveying box 41 is placed on the upward side of the belt 25, while the attracting plates 44 are still being attracted by the permanent magnets 40, the supplemental attracting plate 60 is attracted by the supplemental permanent magnet 61 intermediate the belt 25 so that it is possible to transfer the conveying box 41 surely onto the upward side of the belt 25. In positioning the supplemental permanent magnet 61 in the web plate 51, it is to be considered that the destination selecting holes 43 of the conveying box 41 are to be positioned higher than the supplemental magnet 61 for avoiding interference thereof with the destination selecting magnets 45 and 46 in connection with the action of magnetism at the starting period of the upward travel.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a conveyor system, a master vertical route, a plurality of branched routes, and a plurality of conveying boxes,

said master vertical route comprising I a flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework of ferromagnetic substance, I a vertically arranged endless master belt of a nonmagnetic substance adapted to be longitudinally and circulatingly mounted on and along said master framework and driven in a single direction substantially vertically, a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless master belt, and a plurality of primary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, said branched route havingan inlet and an outlet thereof connected with said master vertical route at a single junction and comprising a plurality of adjoining pairs of horizontally arranged endless belts adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially horizontally, and a plurality of secondary vertical routes arranged between said pairs of adjoining horizontally arranged endless belts, respectively, said secondary vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary framework of a ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless secondary belt of a nonmagnetic substance a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless secondary belt and a secondary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, and said conveying boxcomprising a vertically carrying permanent magnet means, a pair of attracting plates, and an adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means,

said vertically carrying permanent magnet means being adapted to cooperate with said master framework and said secondary framework so as to hold said conveying box on the vertical surfaces of said endless master belt and said endless secondary belt,

said attracting plate being adapted to be attracted by said permanent magnets of said reversing means so as to reverse the advancing direction of said conveying box, and

said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means being adapted to be adjustably positioned in such a position in said conveying box that said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means is repulsed by both said primary selecting means and said secondary selecting means.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each of said reversing means comprises a prismatic roller arranged in parallel with the width of said endless belt' corresponding thereto and adapted to be driven in the same direction thereby,

said permanent magnets of said reversing means being fixed onto each of the lateral faces of said prismatic roller and adapted to attract said attracting plate of said conveying box when said conveying box is transfered from the downward side of the last-named endless belt to the upward side thereof.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein each of said prismatic roller is a hexagonallyprismatic roller.

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each of said primary selecting means comprises at least two permanent magnets embedded in said master framework normally to the surface of said endless belt corresponding thereto and arranged transversally, and each of said secondary selecting means comprises at least two permanent magnets embedded in said secondary frameworknormally to the surface of said endless belt corresponding thereto and arranged transversally,

each of said permanent magnets of said primary selecting means and said secondary selecting means being adapted to repulse said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet in which at least two permanent magnets are polarized oppositely to the last-named permanent magnets, respectively, and positioned so as to meet the lastnam ed permanent magnets during the travelling of the former on and together with said endless belt.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein each of said primary selecting means, said secondary selecting means and said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means has n by number of positions adapted to position a permanent magnet and juxtaposed transversally to the travelling direction of the corresponding belt, of which r by number of positions is used for a peculiar point in said travelling where said conveying box is removed from the last-named endless belt.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said n is 8 and said r is 2.

7, The combination of claim 5 and wherein said n is 8 and r- 8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein the number of combination of said 8 taken of said 2 is individually allotted to all stations within said conveyor system, where a predetermined individual conveying box is to be removed from said system, and the number of combination of said 4 taken of said 2 is individually allotted to all junctions wherein said master vertical route, where a conveying box belonging to a predetermined group is to be removed from said master vertical route.

9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework and said flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary frameworks respectively comprise a supplemental permanent magnet arranged along the lowermost part of the longitudinal centerline thereof and adapted to attract a supplemental attracting plate of said conveying box arranged along the longitudinal centerline thereof between said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means and the center of said line, whereby said conveying box is held in place while being transferred from a position carried by said reversing means to another position held by any of said frameworks and carried upward by any of said endless belts until said cooperation of said vertically carrying permanent magnet means of said conveying box with said any of said frameworks begins.

10. A method of conveying a conveying box not only vertically but also horizontally within a multistoried building comprising providing a master vertical route, a plurality of branched routes, and'a plurality of conveying boxes, said master vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework of a ferromagnetic substance,

a vertically arranged endless master belt of a nonmagnetic substance adapted to be longitudinally and circulatingly mounted on and along said master framework and driven in a single direction substantially vertically,

a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless master belt, and

a plurality of primary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box,

said branched route having an inlet and outlet thereof connected with said master vertical route at a single junction and comprising a plurality of adjoining pairs of horizontally arranged endless belts adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially horizontally, and

a plurality of secondary vertical routes arranged between said pairs of adjoining horizontally arranged endless belts, respectively,

said secondary vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary framework of a ferromagnetic substance,

a vertically arranged endless secondary belt of a nonmagnetic substance,

a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless secondary belt, and

a secondary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, and said conveying box comprising a vertically carrying permanent'magnet means, a pair of attracting plates, and an adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means,

said vertically carrying permanent magnet means being adapted to cooperate with said master framework so as to hold said conveying box on the vertical surface of said endless master belt and said endless secondary belt, said endless secondary belt,

said attracting plate being adapted to be attracted by said permanent magnets of said reversing means so as to reverse the advancing direction of said conveying box, and

said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means being adapted to be adjustably positioned in such a position in said conveying box that said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means is repulsed by both said primary selecting means and said secondary selecting means,

driving all said endless belts,

setting said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means so as to direct one of said conveying boxes to a predetermined station in said conveyor system for removing the same from said system at said station,

placing the last-named conveying box on the upward side of one of said vertically arranged endless belts, and removing the last-named conveying box automatically at the last-named station.

l 1. In a method of conveying a conveying box as claimed in claim 10, a step of adjusting said adjustable destination selectclaim 10, a step of adjusting said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means comprising ing permanent magnet means comprising setting two permanent magnets in eight holes transversally setting two permanent magnets in eight holes transversally arranged in said conveying box, in accordance with a arranged in said conveying box, in accordance with a predetermined allotment of the number of combination predetermined allotment of the number of combination I ofsaid 8 taken Of said 4 to all junctions in said master verof said 8 taken of said 2 to all stations in said system tical route Where Said conveying box y be transferred Where said conveying box may be removed f said to one of said branched routes, so that said two persystem, so that said two permanent magnets are repulsed i f a repulsed by rePul5in g magnets P by repulsing magnets provided in a station in accordance l vlded m a unction in accordance with said allotment, at with said allotment, at the last-named station. lastnamedluncnon' 12. In a method of conveying a conveying box as claimed in 

1. In a conveyor system, a master vertical route, a plurality of branched routes, and a plurality of conveying boxes, said master vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework of ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless master belt of a nonmagnetic substaNce adapted to be longitudinally and circulatingly mounted on and along said master framework and driven in a single direction substantially vertically, a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless master belt, and a plurality of primary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, said branched route having an inlet and an outlet thereof connected with said master vertical route at a single junction and comprising a plurality of adjoining pairs of horizontally arranged endless belts adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially horizontally, and a plurality of secondary vertical routes arranged between said pairs of adjoining horizontally arranged endless belts, respectively, said secondary vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary framework of a ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless secondary belt of a nonmagnetic substance a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless secondary belt and a secondary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, and said conveying box comprising a vertically carrying permanent magnet means, a pair of attracting plates, and an adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means, said vertically carrying permanent magnet means being adapted to cooperate with said master framework and said secondary framework so as to hold said conveying box on the vertical surfaces of said endless master belt and said endless secondary belt, said attracting plate being adapted to be attracted by said permanent magnets of said reversing means so as to reverse the advancing direction of said conveying box, and said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means being adapted to be adjustably positioned in such a position in said conveying box that said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means is repulsed by both said primary selecting means and said secondary selecting means.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each of said reversing means comprises a prismatic roller arranged in parallel with the width of said endless belt corresponding thereto and adapted to be driven in the same direction thereby, said permanent magnets of said reversing means being fixed onto each of the lateral faces of said prismatic roller and adapted to attract said attracting plate of said conveying box when said conveying box is transfered from the downward side of the last-named endless belt to the upward side thereof.
 3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein each of said prismatic roller is a hexagonally prismatic roller.
 4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein each of said primary selecting means comprises at least two permanent magnets embedded in said master framework normally to the surface of said endless belt corresponding thereto and arranged transversally, and each of said secondary selecting means comprises at least two permanent magnets embedded in said secondary framework normally to the surface of said endless belt corresponding thereto and arranged transversally, each of said permanent magnets of said primary selecting means and said secondary selecting means being adapted to repulse said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet in which at least two permanent magnets are polarized oppositely to the last-named permanent magnets, respectively, and positioned so as to meet the last-named permanent magnets during the travelling of the former on and together with said endless belt.
 5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein each of said primary selecting means, said secondary selecting means and said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means has n by number of positions adapted to position a permanent magnet and juxtaposed tRansversally to the travelling direction of the corresponding belt, of which r by number of positions is used for a peculiar point in said travelling where said conveying box is removed from the last-named endless belt.
 6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said n is 8 and said r is
 2. 7. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said n is 8 and r is
 4. 8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein the number of combination of said 8 taken of said 2 is individually allotted to all stations within said conveyor system, where a predetermined individual conveying box is to be removed from said system, and the number of combination of said 4 taken of said 2 is individually allotted to all junctions wherein said master vertical route, where a conveying box belonging to a predetermined group is to be removed from said master vertical route.
 9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework and said flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary frameworks respectively comprise a supplemental permanent magnet arranged along the lowermost part of the longitudinal centerline thereof and adapted to attract a supplemental attracting plate of said conveying box arranged along the longitudinal centerline thereof between said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means and the center of said line, whereby said conveying box is held in place while being transferred from a position carried by said reversing means to another position held by any of said frameworks and carried upward by any of said endless belts until said cooperation of said vertically carrying permanent magnet means of said conveying box with said any of said frameworks begins.
 10. A method of conveying a conveying box not only vertically but also horizontally within a multistoried building comprising providing a master vertical route, a plurality of branched routes, and a plurality of conveying boxes, said master vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged master framework of a ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless master belt of a nonmagnetic substance adapted to be longitudinally and circulatingly mounted on and along said master framework and driven in a single direction substantially vertically, a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless master belt, and a plurality of primary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, said branched route having an inlet and outlet thereof connected with said master vertical route at a single junction and comprising a plurality of adjoining pairs of horizontally arranged endless belts adapted to be driven in a single direction substantially horizontally, and a plurality of secondary vertical routes arranged between said pairs of adjoining horizontally arranged endless belts, respectively, said secondary vertical route comprising a flat and elongated vertically arranged secondary framework of a ferromagnetic substance, a vertically arranged endless secondary belt of a nonmagnetic substance, a reversing means having permanent magnets provided under the lowermost reversing end of said vertically arranged endless secondary belt, and a secondary selecting means of permanent magnets adapted to cooperate with said conveying box, and said conveying box comprising a vertically carrying permanent magnet means, a pair of attracting plates, and an adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means, said vertically carrying permanent magnet means being adapted to cooperate with said master framework so as to hold said conveying box on the vertical surface of said endless master belt and said endless secondary belt, said endless secondary belt, said attracting plate being adapted to be attracted by said permanent magnets of said reversing means so as to reverse the advancing direction of said conveying box, and said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means being adapted to be adjustably positioned in such a position in said conveying box that said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means is repulsed by both said primary selecting means and said secondary selecting means, driving all said endless belts, setting said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means so as to direct one of said conveying boxes to a predetermined station in said conveyor system for removing the same from said system at said station, placing the last-named conveying box on the upward side of one of said vertically arranged endless belts, and removing the last-named conveying box automatically at the last-named station.
 11. In a method of conveying a conveying box as claimed in claim 10, a step of adjusting said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means comprising setting two permanent magnets in eight holes transversally arranged in said conveying box, in accordance with a predetermined allotment of the number of combination of said 8 taken of said 2 to all stations in said system where said conveying box may be removed from said system, so that said two permanent magnets are repulsed by repulsing magnets provided in a station in accordance with said allotment, at the last-named station.
 12. In a method of conveying a conveying box as claimed in claim 10, a step of adjusting said adjustable destination selecting permanent magnet means comprising setting two permanent magnets in eight holes transversally arranged in said conveying box, in accordance with a predetermined allotment of the number of combination of said 8 taken of said 4 to all junctions in said master vertical route where said conveying box may be transferred to one of said branched routes, so that said two permanent magnets are repulsed by repulsing magnets provided in a junction in accordance with said allotment, at the last-named junction. 